


An Eye An Eye And I And I.

by writing_blockhead



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Medical, Body Horror, Both Boys are Crushing Harder than a 12-Year Old Girl, Jack is an Unlucky yet Lucky Piece of Shit, M/M, Mark is a Nurse, Scopophobia, Usually Assigned in the ER, but time to BRUTE FORCE WRITE AND POST THIS AGAIN, chemical burns, holy shit what the hap is fuckening, if you see another fic with this title, it's OUT OF CONTROL OMGGG, that's still mine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 22:00:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8464600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writing_blockhead/pseuds/writing_blockhead
Summary: The multitude of eyes are spreading its onslaught towards his arms, creating more slits and fear and marks. He drags his overly spent body towards where he knows someone can help him, no matter what happens.The lights of St. Sabal Medical Hospital are so close, yet it's so far. His feet are tired, his vision is blurry and fading, his arms kept itching and burning and opening and scarring and scaring and—He stumbles and falls.He lies there, bleeding.He lies there, ever still, but still alive. But dying.He lies there, hopeless.He lies there, crying silently.He lies there, unconscious.





	

**Author's Note:**

> SPOOPY DAY IS NOW DONE BUT I STILL WANNA MAKE A FIC SO HERE IT IS,,,
> 
> this is definitely a oneshot tho bc i was inspired by the "Infected" prompt of Septiween and i decided to take advantage of my aunts in the medical field and i can't do Septiween bc i obviously missed 31 days,,,
> 
> love the puns on the title tho :)
> 
> so this idea has been bugging me so why not fucking write it??? i want body horror and romance???

A fog of breath blew away as a sigh and the emitter of said breath threw his head up at the bleak sky.

Watching smoke coming out of a broken yet ever-vigilant ~~and maybe illegal~~ factory out in a cold October night was not the most exciting thing to do as you wait for your friend ~~the dipshit named Robin~~  to give back a few of your items (hopefully including his money for buying ice cream) that he borrowed, but what else can Jack do?

He sighed, fiddling with the black elastic strap his filtration mask. The factory doesn't smell **that** bad, nor its air is that particularly harmful for either people or athsmatics, but due to his unfortunate luck that nearly costed his lungs, he bought himself one. (It's green, by the way!)

The smoke swirls with wanton, slowly dancing until it disappears into the cold dark sky. The air was bearable, but it started to numb Jack's fingers, making his pale skin turn red. He cursed himself for being such a genius and deciding to not bring his gloves because it can't be that cold in autumn, right?

Foolish fool who foolishly thinks of foolish things.

He sighed in disappointment of his own being, and then shoved his hands deep into his bomber jacket. It was toasty enough to warm his numbing hands for a bit, but the feeling was enough to make little old Jack smile a bit. It was little, but it sure made his time waiting a little better.

He may consider himself a huge unlucky mess for being in numerous accidents, including **five accidents** that require medical attention. But somehow, they all end up with Jack actually feeling better or having an outcome that makes up for whatever monster of a fuck-up happened. It all left Jack with a smile, for some odd reason.

Whether it'd be a situation like this, forgetting his gloves, or nearly getting maimed by a prototype robot unit, it'd make up to him after said accident. One example would be a guy from the ER at St. Sabal Medical Hospital, the ever-charming Mark.

He's always taken to that hospital when he had all of his accidents that requires medical care and attention and he'd always have Mark taking care of him. In fact, Jack had gained a close friendship ~~and a closed hard crush~~ with him, in and out of the hospital. The guy hits where Jack wants him to hit; sincerity, humor, sass, interest for video games and shows, looks, hair, voice, being a red-haired and vulgar Cecil Palmer from Welcome to Night Vale... Perfect for me, Jack thinks!

The mere thought of man can make Jack feel things he wasn't supposed to feel but felt them anyway, and he's fucking addicted to the heart-accelerating, face flushing, hair pulling, morbid and panicked screaming...

Wait, morbid and panicked screaming? Can crushes do that to you?

The dazed man snapped out of his thoughts, coming to reality when the screams turns out be in his own realm. He turned his head to his surroundings, seeing various factory workers scrambling out of the vicinity in terror and panic. When he looked at the factory, the place was in utter wasteland shit. There was corrosion and distortion on the various areas, glowing liquid disgustingly leaking out from the nooks and crannies of the building.

A worker accidentally threw themself into the dazed Irishman, panting and crying. He immediately helped them go out of the area, taking them further from the factory.

"What...What happened in there," he asked softly, hoping that the worker won't break down due to whatever fuckery they had witnessed. The worker took a few heavy breaths, and then croaked out and explanation.

"There...Was a hacker...in our workers. She tampered the security servos, messing them up. A guy locked her up in the control room, inside was burning up already! Robin, he's still—"

_Robin. No, Robin._

The utterance of the his friend's name made him throw the worker carefully to the nearest person him and then ran towards the factory as he yelled to them to take care of the poor worker.

This was daringly stupid, but he had always been an instinctual person.

And his instincts shout repeatedly to him, equally loud as his own, to save his friend.

Be an idiot and save this friend in a soon to be wasteland.

* * *

_Pain can be expressed in wavelengths and noises and echoes._

_The howls and yells and tears and sweat and blood fill up his body, ungodly pain and exhaustion and feelings._

_There was a huge cut on the side of his torso when he let someone escape ahead of him. Debris fell and crushed the only accessible entrance, nearly crushing him. It scratched deep into his side, bleeding and hurting._

_And then, the universe decided to add more to the burden. The tank filled with waste was cracked, and his arms were suddenly sprayed with flesh-biting liquid substances._

_As the burns on his shoulders to wrists blossom, slits form. And as slits form, they open up to reveal a lovely emerald color._

_And then an ocean blue._

_And then a chocolate brown._

_And then a light hazel._

_And then deep red._

_And then more hues from one spectrum open into said slits._

_And as the slits open, they close too. Not all close, however, so it feels like the pain from a persistent staring contest. The burns and mutations grow on his arm._

_The pain grows, too._

_The terror grows, too._

* * *

"We got a call from 911 services, people! Move out, quickly, quickly! Emergency on the loose!"

"Shit, I gotta scram!"

"You on speed duty, Felix?"

A man named Felix nodded as he went to his locker to change into his uniform for his assigned duty. "What's the emergency, man?!" Felix yelled as he hastily put on his clothes and grabbed his kit for treatments. Mark just shrugged and replied, "Doc didn't tell us, so they'll probably tell you guys when you're on the ambulance and you're actually leaving. Speaking of leaving, you better go on quick. Good luck out there!"

The man ran out of the emergency, turning his head to shout out a "Thanks bro!" and turning it to the hovering ambulance to get in it and moving away quickly.

The room was back to its tranquil state, silent nurses and doctors were back on what they were doing before being loudly interrupted. Mark, with no one to talk to, sighed loudly and flopped his head on to the counter, lonely and bored.

His brown eyes scanned around the room, trying to find anything interesting. His eyes settled on the remote, inches away from him, then he trailed to the television screen. It was on mute when the protocol for 911 services was announced in such an abrupt manner that even until now, Mark can't be not surprised when the intercom yells out a 911 protocol.

The man took the remote and unmuted the TV, making background noise. The news left out to a factory broken to its internal damage, causing major spillage of toxic waste and acidic waste. As footage plays, he sees the logo of St. Sabal Medical Hospital on the side of a vehicle. _"That's our ambulance, alright,"_ Mark thought, now interested in what the news had to offer. Mostly because he can make fun of Felix on how terrible he looked when on national television. _"Marzia and I are gonna have **so much** fun when Felix comes back with a terrible look. He takes pride in looks, and looking like utter shit on TV ain't good."_

As he stares at the TV with intent to pass the time, his phone rings a rather intense drum solo, shocking himself and his co-workers around him. He sheepishly grinned as he picked up the phone, knowing whose ringtone does it belong to. Hearing that metal song never fails to make Mark excited  ~~~~and giddy because the owner of said ringtone can also never fail to make Mark color his own face with the shade of his hair. ~~In other words, he really fucking likes this gu~~ y.

"Jack! How's things—"

Low gutteral moan, groans and hisses come through the call, twisting Mark's mind and leading him to the gutter. _"Maybe he accidentally called me when he's having his own 'alone time,'"_  The red-haired man thought, blushing profusely at the thought and the call. "Lemme just hang up—"

"No! Mark, please help...Help!"

The tone of Jack's voice was strained, hoarse and desperate, shifting Mark from vulgar thoughts to concerned and anxious possibilities. "Jack? Where are you? What happened to you," Mark frantically asked, feet beginning to move towards the main lobby to find Jack.

"Lights! Hospital lights-Near! ... Mark, I nee—"

The line went dead.

And just with that, Mark sprinted out of the hospital, breaking out in a cold sweat and yelling for Jack all over again.

He hoped that he's, still intact, still alive, still breathing, still here, still okay.

Still okay.

Still okay.

* * *

_His weary eyes managed to open, despite the many forces that tell him to not open, don't go away from the light, sleep more, it's painful out there._

_He could see sterile lights. Curtains and hands. Same hands from rushing and panicked people. It smells woozy in here. What are they worrying about?_

_Tired, he slowly turned his head to the left, seeing a man with a slightly unnerved look, busying himself with the left of his body. What happened here?_

_He turned to his right to see two people: a woman propping up a monitor and some newfangled equipment-Regenra, it read-and a man injecting his arm with a needle and clipping things on his arms. Why is the man crying?_

_Despite steady fingers, the man's face contradicts on what his hands do and carry. Tears streams down his face, dropping into his clothes. What is he mouthing?_

_The world is in slow motion, the noise is just ringing, the sight is ever blurry. The faces are blurry. The words come in white noise. It was hard to pick up._

_"Be okay... you...be o...u'll...you..."_

_Red..._

_The ever present pain was red, but the red fades away. The world was red, but now turning blue. Everything wasn't red anymore; just blue._

_Except for red hair. Red hair that belonged to a crying man. Tears dripping were red, eyes were red, red._

_Mark. Mark was crying._

_"...Don't... You big baby—"_

* * *

_"Give me a status check, please."_

_"Yes, doctor. The patient's name is Sean William McLoughlin, aged 26. He has a deep cut on the side of his stomach at his left."_

_"Any signs of internal bleeding?"_

_"Luckily, negative."_

_"Anything else?"_

_"He has suffered from major chemical burns from the wastes and acid from the factory in the news. Said burns caused mutations such as slits opening and then eyes opening from said slits. McLoughlin is at the sterilization ward to receive treatment for situations like these."_

_"He's been there for 6 hours, right? Condition going well?"_

_"Affirmative. The eyes on his arms are slowly closing up and the slits that weren't opened are disappearing."_

_"Good. And, uh, is Nurse Fischbach's still in there?"_

_"The poor man still is."_

_"Very well. I'll assign him to take care of the patient. He has to take care of his significant other, after all."_

_"Actually, they're just best friends."_

_"Oh! Pardon me about that. Anyways, I'll look for the medicine and ointment McLoughlin needs to soothe various kinds of pain. Tell Fischbach that he'll be assigned to take care of McLoughlin and reassure the man that McLoughlin will be okay."_

_"Affirmative."_

_"You're dismissed, and thank you as well."_

* * *

"...ark..."

"..."

"Ma...Ma...!"

"..."

"... **MARK!** "

"JeSU **S FUCKING FUBBERNUCK—** "

A crash resonated in the silent room, harmonized with grumbles and groans from the cause of the crash, Mark, who is currently rubbing his sore ass that fell on the floor, and the beeps from the heartbeat monitor. _**Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...**_

The grumbling and groaning suddenly stopped at one of the reason why Mark fell: a vibrant and fully awake Jack, smiling and eyes wide, the number of eyes in his arms now depleted by a decent amount.

He's okay.

He's okay.

"I'm okay."

That enough made Mark's threatening tears from his eyes flow down to his cheeks, scrambled towards the man on bed and hug him and cry on him. Jack was taken aback ~~and maybe blushing~~ at Mark's rather expressive course of action, but nevertheless, he patted and stroked the top of head, messing up with his dyed hair.

"I thought you'd be gone," The man below him croaked out, muffled by the medical gown he was wearing. "I thought you wouldn't survive. I thought the eyes..."

A hand snaked through Mark's pressed down face and it held on to his stubble covered chin, slowly and carefully lifting it up to meet Jack's face. His eyes were soft yet vibrant, smile small yet bright, a man so tiny get big enough for the space of his heart.

"Hey, Mark. Don't cry," The Irishman crooned, voice gentle and soothing. "It ruins your reputation on not being the big baby."

Mark sniffed and then let his ever steady hands crawl towards Jack's, intertwining them together, heart hammering but body unwavering. His gaze was down to Jack's arms, eyes and slits now decreased by a good amount. Thank the Regenra for causing such mutations to cease down, Mark mused to himself.

He looked back up at Jack, whose eyes are now distraught and gloomy. "I'm sorry that this happened and making you worry like this," he apologized, shame and guilt scattered on his features. "Jack, why would you be sorry for risking your life to save another," Mark hiccuped out, hands no longer at Jack's and moving towards his face, cupping. "You were stupid enough to save your friend, and **you did**."

"I know, but... What about my arms? They still look like, **this,** " Jack emphasized by waving this arms for a little bit. "I look like I came out of The Last of Us's concept art! Impressive, I admit, but grotesque for others, and maybe you even."

Mark looked down to the man's eye-ridden limbs then back at him again, carefully choosing his words. His gaze made Jack nervous and anticipated, wondering what he would say to him.

"It may take time to heal you with the Regenra," Mark paused, licking his lips and biting the bottom one after. "But for the meantime..."

Their foreheads touch, heat radiating from their faces. This is very stupid of me but I'm going for it anyway, the man thinks. Oh my God, this is real, I've never been more happier to be in actual pain, the other man thinks. The heartbeat monitor beeps louder and faster, Jack thinks he may be dying and asks himself why didn't he take the pulse detector patches off of his skin. **_Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep!_**

"I'm content and okay with this and I like you, no matter what, Jack."

"Even if I look like an atrocity from Alice Isn't Dead?"

"Atrocity or not," Mark is now looking at the man in front of him with great intent, the previous looks of sadness overpowered by a look of... He can't honestly tell. It's definitely positive, but there's something more that he just can't decipher from his expression. "I still would be with you, patching you up if you broke your arm while opening a jar Nutella, or playing video games that he love and/or suck and hanging out with you. Being around you and having fun is the best thing I could ever ask for from you and as cliche as it sounds, it's addicting. I love it."

Jack thought he could wait a few more days or even a few more weeks in here, shutting his loud trap on what he really wanted to say to this literal angel of a nurse. A few more years would be a nice thought, too.

It's obvious that he isn't going to last long.

He mirrored what Mark is doing to him; cupping his cheeks and looking at him with great focus and energy. He closed the gap between their lips quickly, heartbeat monitor probably malfunctioning to the erratic beats. A long time of pining Mark was wasted when all it took was an acid burn to accumulate the balls to kiss the fuck out this nurse who took care of him, no matter how stupid or fatal was the accident and embraced him for who he is.

Jack got caught up on this own thoughts that one, he didn't realized that the water works kicked in him, and two, Mark was kissing him back.

It was long, chaste yet deep. And when they pulled away, they giggled and laughed, scooting closer to one another, sharing another kiss and another and another. It was teary and happy and quite damp and they loved it.

Now with no shame, the two men let their hands hold, letting the other travel to other places such as Mark's fluffy red hair or Jack's intricate burns. Several words, some lingering stares and many wide smiles and looks of love were exchanged, but they needn't say anything further. The genuine care and nursing and appreciation and touches and caresses show all signs of a universal mutual understanding.

A mutual understanding called a a relationship, despite the many eyes starting them down.

"Hey Jack, are they staring at me?"

"Well, you're kind of the only person in the room, so of course they'll look at you."

"Huh, so a mind of it's own?"

"Yep. They also seem to like staring at you so much, considering that **you are** a handsome boyfriend."

"Jack! You're making me blush, dammit! Stop please!"

"It's the eyes, not me! Remember that!"

**Author's Note:**

> the first two fics are sweet, what the fuck is this drastic change?
> 
> this has been a MEGA BITCH™ to edit bc i had to constantly save and edit and save and edit and UGH IT DIDN'T POST???? I DID POST THIS EARLIER??? at least i now did. _my god._
> 
> edit (11/04/16): fun fact when i was trying to think of a name for the hospital, i told myself to not take the actual entire name of an actual local hospital. so i decided to mash the hospital my aunt works, another one where her mother works and another one where i usually pass by when i go to school and go home. with that, you have St. Sabal Medical Hospital.
> 
> anyways, hope you like this amalgamation of pain and sweetness! criticisms are welcome, even negative ones because life ain't always peaches and joy. it's also burden and shortcomings. but it'll get better in the end, just like Jack in this fic. <3 any grammatical and/or spelling mistakes in there? tell me! i have no beta reader!


End file.
